A couple of hours after Friday night’s game, football fans wearing Ottawa Redblacks colours at packed bars around TD Place were still rip-roaring mad at what they described as “brutal” officiating.

Some Redblacks players certainly felt the same way.

A 31-31 double-overtime tie in the Canadian Football League season-opener and Grey Cup rematch with the Calgary Stampeders stung. It should have been better for the Redblacks. While players thought their team got a raw deal, they weren’t directly criticizing the refs, either, since that sort of stuff leads to fines removing a few hundred bucks from their paycheques.

Said Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris, who completed 33 of 45 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns: “I just find it hard to believe when you see something so blatant on the big screen … there’s Slo-Mo … with all this technology … I’m not saying they were wrong or right. I’m just saying (that), if you can get it wrong, it blows my mind.”

Said offensive lineman SirVincent Rogers: “I don’t know, man. I hear the fans booing, then you look at the replay. You probably see it one way, the refs are human and they see it one way. I won’t say if they’re right or wrong, but we really would love for some of those calls to go our way.”

As much as it sure looked as if there were a couple of blunders from the officiating crew, the Redblacks also took too many undisciplined penalties and might have become too conservative with offensive play-calling while trying to babysit a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. Said head coach Rick Campbell: “The reffing is the least of our worries.”

The officiating? Yes, they need to be better, and so does the CFL command centre.

Fans react angrily after Calgary is awarded a touchdown by the video official, who determined that Stampeders receiver Kamar Jorden had crossed the goal-line with the football before fumbling it away to Redblacks linebacker Khalil Bass.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangJustin Tang /
CP

Give them this: They got it right on the touchdown/touchdown play where Stampeders receiver Kamar Jorden leaned into the end zone before fumbling the ball into the arms of Khalil Bass. The Redblacks linebacker, with a wall of blockers, ran from one end zone to the other. So, while Calgary players celebrated at one end, Ottawa players were dancing around with Bass. After several viewings, it sure looked as if the ball, or at least part of it, had crossed the goal-line before it popped out of Jorden’s arms, thus touchdown Calgary.

Another booing point: A catch by Calgary wideout Davaris Daniels, who was ruled out of bounds by the official on the sidelines, but that call was overturned upon review. One foot in bounds was good enough, folks.

However, there were a couple of what looked like really bad ball spots that hurt the Redblacks, and there was that big kerfuffle with 3:24 left. As Jorden was falling to the ground, he again coughed up the ball. Ottawa’s challenge was denied. Still, after watching the replay several times and inspecting photos, it’s impossible not to interpret that as a fumble, meaning a turnover and Redblacks football near midfield.

Campbell, a big supporter of CFL efforts to refine rule interpretations and to be innovative, said: “It’s really unpredictable and it’s hard to know how things are going to be ruled on a replay.”

For the Redblacks, it’s important to move beyond what-ifs and focus on Game 2 next Thursday at Calgary.

“We had a chance to get a win. It didn’t work out. We got a tie,” Campbell said. “We’re not happy with that, other than the fact that this one point could be valuable later in the year. There are a lot of ebbs and flows to the game. But it was there for the taking. It’s a long season. This is only one of 18 games, so we need to make sure we put it behind us and get emotionally ready for the next one.”

Rogers said every Redblack “can probably play a little better. Personally, I can.”

There were other words of optimism from the quarterback.

“We have the makings of a championship team, of a Grey Cup-winning team,” Harris said. “We’ll start piling up the wins. We have the right guys in this locker room.

Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell (19) passes the ball before Ottawa defensive lineman Connor Williams can reach him during the second half of play on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

INJURY REPORT: Running back William Powell and receiver Kenny Shaw left Friday’s game with injuries. Said Campbell: “I don’t think Powell’s overly serious. Obviously it was enough to hold him out of the game. It didn’t seem to be a devastating injury. Kenny Shaw, too, it seemed more of a minor thing, but it obviously it was enough to be nuisance.”

THE REPORT CARD

OFFENCE: B. 300 yards passing for Trevor Harris, but he would probably like a couple of throws back. Good effort by RB Brendan Gillanders (80 yards) in relief of William Powell, but he made a costly fumble in the fourth quarter. Greg Ellingson was targeted 13 times, with eight catches for 66 yards. Brad Sinopoli had eight grabs for 88 yards. Ottawa will need to stretch the field a bit more to open up underneath passes.

DEFENCE: B. Looked great for three quarters, keeping Bo Levi Mitchell off his game, but the Stampeders QB got into a groove and wound up with 31 completions for 376 yards. Calgary will not be happy with converting just 32 per cent of its second-down opportunities. Taylor Reed had eight tackles for Ottawa, while Antoine Pruneau had seven and Nick Taylor and Imoan Claiborne had six each.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B+. Punter Brett Maher averaged 48.6 yards per punt (40.3 yards net) and hit all three field-goal attempts. Kickoff coverage was very good for both teams. Calgary’s Roy Finch returned a punt for 30 yards.

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